The well-known Raph Rashid photograph of Dilla will now be sold on a limited edition shirt, courtesy of Stussy & Stones Throw Records. Available on 2.13 and you can purchase knowing that proceeds will finally make it to the proper hands, with the recent announcement that Dilla’s estate finally made it back into his family’s control.

Available @ Stones Throw’s site and Stussy locations.

In an effort to spotlight his recently-released 5-LP Toeachizown boxset we’ve hyped for months,
us humanoids have been blessed with another complementary morsel of interplanetary skunk courtesy of Dãm-Funk. This particular giveaway resonates like the inside of my noggin after I’ve played slammy-chasey with Burnetts and a 3-footer. It feels right at the time, but leaves you drooling five minutes later. Read the rest of this entry »

DãM-FunK sees and hears in living color.

P4k via Fader

Because if I had to take a knife to a gunfight, I’d want Guilty Simpson riding with me like Tango & Cash. Therefore, I support any and all efforts to get this man good beats so he can succeed. Read the rest of this entry »

As your elders would say, DãM-FunK is “an old soul.” He’s lived before, in another body perhap. Maybe, just experienced life at a time previous to this and carried some of those influences along with him to now. His approach to music and what he hears escapes the constraints of the expected norm in 2009, all in a good way. Read the rest of this entry »

Apparently, DãM-FunK doesn’t just do beats, he does music and that’s the difference.

Since I couldn’t say it as noble as Stones Throw’s philosopher of P-funk himself, all I’m left to do is pass along the music. Read the rest of this entry »

Since we spotlighted the last volume of Dam-Funk’s Toeachizown series what seems like five minutes ago, the folks at Stones Throw have tossed out another chapter of the Pasadena native’s chromatic five-part foray into funky instrumental EP’s, which will comprise his full-length 5-Disc LP debut of the same name come October 20. This version is entitled “Hood,” for reasons I’ll let Dam himself explain below.

With these songs, I delved into another side of my life experiences. These are songs that peepz can glide to while hittin’ corners down streets like Crenshaw Bl. in L.A., Lincoln Ave. in Pasadena, Whittier Bl. in East L.A., or any Bl. or street, for that matter, in the world, with total Funk confidence & ease. The standout track on this volume for me is “Brookside Park”, as this is a park in my hometown of Pasadena, CA that I witnessed something very special & unique on one hazy Sunday afternoon back in the day. This particular track is over 9:mins long of pure Modern-Funk bizness.

And that’s exactly what it is. Sun-pumping Swisher-meditating mood music. Ving Rhames would definitely be down.

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Listen — Dam-Funk – “Brookside Park”

Oh, and by the way, who ever orchestrated that cover is genius.

To those who know me I’ve been quite the fan of Mayer Hawthorne ever since LC put me on to her Detroit comrade. Read the rest of this entry »

Somewhere, LC, David & K1NG are probably doing the Robot @ the news that Guilty & Madlib are putting together a whole album, tentatively titled OJ Simpson. Read the rest of this entry »

If you happened to stumble across the latest Vibe with Kanye on the cover, you probably found the better story (at least to me) was the chronicles of Jay Dee’s estate. In a nutshell, legal wrangling has kept his family, the rightful beneficiaries from benefiting from Dilla’s work. His parents, brother & his children are having the toughest time gaining the right to even use his name, much less royalty checks. On top of that, his mother Maureen “Ma Dukes” Yancey has been stricken with Lupus, the same debilitating disease that took Dilla way.

So in a mild way, consider this a chance to pay your respects to the man. Parra teamed up with Stones Throw to produce this “Ma Dukes” tribute T-shirt with all proceeds going to Dilla’s mother.

Available via the Stones Throw site and other retailers, a list of which you can find after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »